MIAMI, Nov. 30 - Farmworkers, union members and activists marched through city streets to Burger King headquarters Friday to protest low wages for tomato pickers and alleged exploitation of field workers.

About 300 to 400 protesters gathered under the skyscrapers of Miami's downtown, many wearing yellow T-shirts reading "Exploitation King" and "Burger King Exploits Farmworkers," others holding signs saying "Dignity" or "Justice for Tomato Pickers." The marchers, some strumming guitars and banging large tin cans with sticks, then began their nine-mile trek to Burger King's offices.

The protesters are pressuring the Miami-based fast-food giant to pay a penny more per pound for Florida tomatoes -- with their suppliers passing the money on directly to farm workers.

Burger King has not accepted the deal. The company, owned by Burger King Holdings Inc., says it is willing to negotiate with the workers on a code of conduct for its vendors to prevent worker exploitation, but it sees no clear legal way to directly pay the workers. Tomato growers say it would be illegal to let outside groups set wages.

McDonald's Corp. and Taco Bell owner Yum Brands Inc. have reached similar agreements already with the Coalition of Immokalee Workers, who organized the march. But those deals are not currently in effect due to resistance from growers. 

The march was organized by the Coalition of Immokalee Workers.

Midwest Coalition for Human Rights Joins March

MCHR Consultant Stephanie Bates was among the roughly 2,500 activists in Miami for the CIW protest. She participated in the nine and a half mile march and attended the rally outside Burger King Headquarters. On Saturday, Bates was a panelist at the conference "Our World, Our Rights," where she presented on the Low Wage Immigrant Worker/ New Organizing strategies Panel.

Bates' presentation focused on MCHR's Meatpacking Workers' Rights project, emphasizing the importance of educating and advocating with workers about their rights. Meatpacking continues to be the most dangerous manufacturing job in the United States.  It has an injury rate double that of any other manufacturing job in the U.S. Though the industry has been mechanized as much as it can be, it still greatly relies on human labor to do the arduous task of disassembling an animal.  Along with the incredible physical burden it places on its workers, the meatpacking industry is also notorious for its gross human rights abuses of workers. 60 Minutes, Human Rights Watch, and the Government Accountability Office have all documented these abuses.

For more information on the Meatpacking industry and MCHR's Workers' Rights Campaign, visit the Our Projects section.

News Article Source: Adrian Sainz, AP Business Writer, 11/30/07